Oakwood: Park remains shut after rollercoaster incident

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Media caption,

Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire remains closed following the accident on its Treetops ride

A witness at a Welsh theme park says screams were heard and rollercoaster carriages appeared "loose" in an incident that injured a man.

Oakwood Theme Park, in Pembrokeshire, remains closed following the accident on its Treetops ride on Sunday.

Dr Harriet Lloyd, from Carmarthen, was waiting for her husband and son, who were on the ride during the incident.

She said people on the ride "started screaming and saying stop" before a man was thrown to the ground.

Image source, Rhodri Mason
Image caption,

Ambulances at Oakwood on Sunday following the incident

Following the accident, the Health and Safety Executive said it had been informed and was making inquiries with Dyfed-Powys Police.

Dr Lloyd said: "One of the carriages on the back of the ride had been shaking as it had been going round. It looked like the last few carriages were loose and wobbling."

Image source, Lachlan/Coasterpedia
Image caption,

A witness said the accident happened on Oakwood's Treetops rollercoaster

She said her husband had noticed there was a man and a teenage girl in the carriage at the back of the ride.

"When he turned around the man was no longer there, and then they saw him on the second descent of the ride, and he'd obviously been thrown out of carriage.

"He could see him and then the passengers were trying to help hold the last carriage on because the girl was still in it and it was still moving around."

Image caption,

Oakwood is Wales' largest theme park

Dr Lloyd said that after the ride was stopped her husband was then told that staff were going to assist the man, and an air ambulance came about 15 minutes later.

"I wasn't on the ride but I was a bit upset at the fact that my husband and son were on the ride, so if they had been a couple carriages back it could have been one of them."

In a statement on Monday, the HSE said the park "is currently closed to the public".

Its head of operations in Wales Sian Clayton added: "Our inspectors are investigating an incident on the Treetops rollercoaster at Oakwood Theme Park.

"We will provide more information when we can."